SABR Minor League Statistics Project completes new league-seasons

The SABR Minor League Statistics Project has added dozens of new league-seasons to its compilation of data in electronic format. The count now tops 1,530 league-seasons and continues growing.

As a result of these efforts, the statistical record for minor leagues are complete from the current year back to 1960 with nearly 200 additional league-seasons from 1877 to 1909 and a scattering of other league-seasons. Much of this data already appears on Baseball-Reference.com, while there remains much more to be developed and integrated.

Among the most recently completed leagues are:

1928 Pacific Coast League, by Mike HothanThe leaders list was dominated with players from the pennant-winning San Francisco Seals. Smead Jolley led in batting average (.405), hits (309), RBI (188), homers (45), and total bases (516). Dutch Ruether led pitchers with a 29-7 record and Elmer Jacobs, with a 22-8 record, led in strikeouts (159) and ERA (2.56). All played in the Major Leagues.

1905 American Association, by Cliff BlauCharlie Hemphill of St. Paul led batters with a .364 average and 204 hits. He also stole 40 bases. Hemphill played more than 1,200 games in the Majors with various teams. Gus Dorner of the penant-winning Columbus team led all pitchers with a 29-8 record and pitched 339 innings. Dorner played in the Majors with the Boston Braves and other clubs.

1964 New York-Pennsylvania League, by Jim SarrantonioWenton "Bill" Etheridge of Binghamton led the league with a .365 average and Danny Napoleon of Auburn led in hits (175) and RBI (134). Napoleon had a brief career with the New York Mets. Dick Nold of Geneva led pitchers with a 20-8 record and struck out 274 batters. Nold later pitched a few games for the Washington Senators.

1947 Alabama State League, by Art CantuPerry Roberts of Greenville led the league in batting with a .389 average and also led in hits with 228 and RBI with 152. He had a long Minor League career, averiging .332 in 1,447 games. Max Peterson, also with Greenville, led pitchers with a 27-12 record, striking out 266 and having a 2.02 ERA. He enjoyed a nine-year career in the Minors, working at the Triple-A level for several seasons.

1958 Appalachian League, by Jonathan FrankelGeorge Williams of Johnson City led the league in batting with a .361 average, but teammate Danny Cater led in four other categories: runs (70), hits (90), RBI (68) and homers (14). Cater went on to enjoy a very successful career in the Majors with several teams.

1956 Mexican League, by Juan RiveraThe Mexico City Diablos Rojos dominated the league and had both the leading batter and pitcher. Alonso Perry led with a .392 average, 118 RBI and 28 homers, as well as leading in runs and hits. Francisco Ramirez led pitchers with a 20-3 record and 2.25 ERA, as well as leading in strikeouts. Perry, who played earlier in the Negro Leagues, amassed a .355 average in his seven years in the Mexican League.